Alternative Therapies on BBC2

New documentary series travels to the heart of alternative therapies.

Just a few days after the BBC shuts down its Complementary & Alternative Health website, I will be pleasantly surprised if this series is presented as a balanced piece of investigative journalism! - IRC

Alternative Therapies - a 3 part documentary series due to air on BBC Two from Monday 17 March, will follow the personal and scientific journey of Professor Kathy Sykes as she explores three fast-growing alternative therapies: meditation, hypnotherapy and reflexology.

The series, for which a trustee of the Foundation has worked on an advisory capacity, travels to locations around the globe to uncover where these therapies come from, why they are so popular and if and how they actually work.

As her journey unfolds, Professor Sykes looks at some of the impressive claims made by advocates of each therapy and with help of expert scientists, examines how such claims square with clinical and scientific results. She also experiences the therapies for herself and shares her honest reactions.

Alternative Therapies has been fully funded by the Open University. There will be follow-up debates and web-based blogs set up to discuss the issues raised in the programmes. You can reach the discussion sites via www.Open2.net.

The first programme in the series looks at hypnotherapy, and will be shown on Monday 17 March 2008 at 9.00pm on BBC Two.

The BBC Abandons Its Complementary Medicine Website Due to Pressure

by Gabriel Donohoe (see all articles by this author)

(NaturalNews) The BBC, Britain's venerable TV station known and respected worldwide for its impartiality and integrity, has suddenly closed down the Complementary Medicine section on its Health website (www.bbc.co.uk/health) .

This is believed to be in response to a curious and abnormal amount of letters and e-mails demanding that information on such therapies as homeopathy and cranial osteopathy be removed.

The BBC Health website is one of the most widely accessed websites in the world and has been online for almost 15 years. Its Complementary Medicine section had in excess of 40 pages on "alternative" therapies, objective evaluations, a practitioner 'search' facility, and other useful information. But the controllers of BBC Health have now decided to abandon all coverage of Complementary Medicine.

Recently, in the UK, there has been a concerted attack on "alternative" medicine from people like University College London Professor David Colquhoun who described 61 university complementary medicine courses (45 of them science degrees) as "gobbledygook". Professor Colquhoun went on to say that, "the teaching of complementary medicine under a science banner was worse than 'Mickey Mouse' degrees in golf management and baking..."

Another critic of "complementary" medicine is Michael Baum, Emeritus Professor of Surgery at University College London, who caused a storm by criticising Prince Charles's support for the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (RLHH). "Homeopathy," says Professor Baum, "is no better than witchcraft." Criticising a £20 million refurbishment of the RLHH Professor Baum says that that money would have been better spent on drugs like Herceptin.

In May 2006, Prince Charles had addressed the World Health Assembly in Geneva to argue for homeopathy and its kindred therapies. The Prince urged a return to remedies "rooted in ancient traditions that intuitively understood the need to maintain balance and harmony with our minds, bodies and the natural world."

The decision by BBC controllers is a curious one, especially at a time when more than 40% of Britons use some form of "complementary" medicine and spend £1.6 billion pounds annually (Ernst). In Britain, the BBC is a public service broadcaster and its remit is to broadcast for the benefit of the public - not for commercial concerns. As public outrage begins to grow, we are sure to hear a lot more about this sinister development in the days and weeks ahead.

The BBC, in response to criticism of their action, says that the "complementary health section was incomplete and, therefore, not of a satisfactory editorial standard." They go on to say, "The BBC will continue to cover complementary health in other areas of its output, such as TV, radio and news programmes, and may reassess its complementary health content in future."

If you have ever accessed the BBC's "Complementary Medicine" site or believe that it should be restored, please take just a minute to complain or express your views using their online comment form at: (www.bbc.co.uk/feedback/)

Original article: http://www.naturalnews.com/z022734.html

The Alternative View

The Alternative View

Conference & Workshops

Totnes Civic Hall – 25/26/27^th April 2008

Watch Video Trailers

Codex Alimentarius is not a phrase you are likely to hear or read in the mainstream media. The phase simply means ‘Food Code’ or ‘Food Law’, yet the 27 committees of the International Codex Alimentarius Commission are advancing global legislation which will effectively eradicate Organic Farming, in favour of irradiated GM products; and will destroy the Complementary & Alternative Health Community by making it illegal to prescribe, or even recommend, nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbs or other natural health remedies.

This pernicious attack on our Health Freedoms is being driven by the corporatocracy of Big Farmer & Big Pharma … yet few people are aware of the Codex steam train coming down the tracks at an alarming rate!

The only 2008 event in the UK, which has been convened specifically to raise public awareness of the UN/EU Codex threat, The Alternative View Conference will take place in Totnes, Devon, described as the alternative Capital of the world.

Confirmed Speakers at the event include:

Phillip Day - Author & Chief Executive of Credence Health Products.
Talk: ‘The New European Order & Natural Health’.

Dr. Robert Verkerk - Executive Director of the Alliance for Natural Health,
Talk: ‘Codex – The Conspiracy that is no longer a Theory.’

Holly Paige – Proprietor of www.rawcuisine.co.uk
Talk: Nutrition & Consciousness

Tony Gosling – Journalist & Ex BBC Reporter
Talk: The Invisible Government

Andy Thomas: Researcher, Author & Political Truth Campaigner
Talk: Making Sense of the Global Agenda

Lucinda Drayton: (Bliss)
Saturday Night Live – In Concert

Ticket Hotline: 01803 840 069 - Earlybird Weekend Tickets – just £79
For more information, please call Ian R. Crane (Event Co-coordinator):

T: 01626 355 857

M: 0779 151 8740

www.thealternativeview.co.uk